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Yes, a large part of the fortress.

13 (12.9%)

Maybe early on, after that it's all about stone.

33 (32.7%)

No, dirt is only for farming.

45 (44.6%)

Other (please explain)

10 (9.9%)

Total Members Voted: 101

[ManaUser]

I've noticed that my fortresses usually end up primarily carved out of the first few layers, which are usually soil. Obviously a big advantage of this is that digging goes much faster so things are up and running sooner. But on the other hand, soil can't be smoothed or engraved, plus just doesn't seem very dorfy.

[kefkakrazy]

I tend to ignore soil layers. If they're there, nice. If not, making a farm isn't that difficult.

[Skorpion]

Generally, the soil layer(s) are where most of the actual work takes place. The stone layers are where everyone sleeps.

I hardly ever expand past the first 5 layers, as I like seeing things laid out easily.

[Telcontar]

I often use the soil layers for the temporary housing while I carve out the vast mansions that will form the real fortress. Sometimes, when I'm playing 'shallow' dwarves (I have to insert RP into everything I do) I will stick closer to the surface permanently.

Also, I of course use it for farming, even in mature fortresses set deep into the stone. Sometimes even when I could conceivably irrigate a closer area using large water sources. Depends on my mood. And by my, I mean the dwarves'.

[Mapleleaf]

I primarily use soil for my first two layers of fort, workshops and storage. Since it eliminates all the hauling needed for a proper storage area in stone. The rest (housing, palace, meeting hall, offices etc.) goes in stone.

A dwarf wouldn't want to look at soil all day now would he?

[Tirin]

I like to do elaborate surface projects in most forts. Those projects, as well as any brook-rerouting or giant-magma-cistern-making tend to involve a fair amount of channelling. So I do as little as possible in the first soil layer, just farms and the like. If I've actually got more than 1 soil layer I'll fill it with stockpiles and stuff so I don't have to clear stone in lower areas. Otherwise, everything is in stone. Smoothing/Engraving stone surfaces raises room values to quickly to think of doing otherwise. Plus it means my fortress expansion also serves the purpose of exploratory mining. Nothing like setting out a new bedroom wing and running into a big gold vein.

[slink]

Other:

Dirt layers, if possible:

farms
trade depot
stockpiles
refuse piles
as many workshops as makes sense, which means, usually, textiles industry, food industry, carpentry, bone-carving, and possibly jewelers
archery ranges

Stone layers:

bedrooms
offices
noble's quarters
dining room
tombs
forges and furnaces, if magma-powered
stoneworking (mason, mechanic, crafting), unless there is plenty of room in the dirt layers right above the stone source, and possibly jewelers

[guale]

I put farms and storage in soil layers, everything else has to go in stone and that stone has to be smoothed in all rooms and around the trade depot. I usually embark on mountains so I don't have much if any soil but my current fortress has two soil layers on top of the rock so I use the first for farming and storage and the second for workshops and barracks and everything that goes next to the barracks in my mind (kennels, archery range, stables).

[Helmaroc]

Generally, the soil layer(s) are where most of the actual work takes place. The stone layers are where everyone sleeps.

This.

[Randominality]

I try to avoid soil at all costs and muddy some stone in order to farm. But iI never dig into soil, ever, just doesnt feel dwarfy.

[Itnetlolor]

Generally, the soil layer(s) are where most of the actual work takes place. The stone layers are where everyone sleeps.

This.

Seconded.

Plus, as I prepare the rock areas, these make great prep zones for dumping stuff as well as temp bedrooms and such until things are set. They're also great for farmlands and readying complex trap zones. I mean, you can always replace the dirt that's lost.

[100killer9]

Aquifers ruin stone layers. In my fortress, only noble bedrooms will be built in it.

[Thingmabob]

I try to avoid soil at all costs and muddy some stone in order to farm. But iI never dig into soil, ever, just doesnt feel dwarfy.

This. Though this often leads to unhappy dwarves in the beginning, due to the lack of booze and sometimes even food (if there are not enough fishes or other animals and the caravan is stuck in a traffic jam or so). And maybe my biggest neurosis is, that I find long tunnels nasty, currently I most often plan my fortress below a river that freezes in winter and then dig a deep channel to my cistern, which is several layers deep and totally engraved, just because of my obsessive behaviours.

[Canadark]

My current fortress is on an island connected to the main land by a glass bridge. Since there is an aquifer under the soil, I have decided to dig through a shale outcropping, so the whole fortress will be stone and the farming will take place on the surface (now I just need to find some sunberries..

[Nidokoenig]

 My current thing for my forts is to make them very vertical, to the point of designating mining all the way to the bottom of the map right after initial quarters are finished. Since I always irrigate my underground farm so I can fertilise it, I'll typically place it near water so whether it's soil to begin with or not is irrelevant.

 That said, when they're available, they're nice for training haulers. Have a whole bunch of them grab picks and get yourself a swarm of legendaries to haul those bins of rock blocks.